THOUGHTS ON SPACE AND THE PANDEMIC

In the beginning of the pandemic, there was one internet meme circulating around the social media that says, ‘Until now, the best vaccine against Covid-19 is made by architects.’ Of course, architects have no literal capability nor the capacity to create the so-called ‘best vaccine’ against COVID-19 or anything in that nature. The wishful remark is just referring to our homes, which were indeed made by architects. The rhetoric does not only imply that people would be much safer when they were at home, but it also hints the importance of architecture and the idea of a personal space. In a much larger context, this ‘new normal’ may have just redefined how we look at and reconnect with our space. Architects could be inspired simply by observing how people are exploiting or behaving around their space in the mid-pandemic era

User experience of architectural detailing in virtual urban environment

Architecture and urban design disciplines very much adhere to the use of representations as a tool to aid decision making process. As it is almost impossible to replicate environments in full-scale, both physical and digital representations are therefore restricted by the notions of scale and level of details. These notions are now challenged by the emergence of virtual reality (VR) technology, which allows architects to work with full-scale virtual environments (VEs). However, the taxonomy of architectural representations in VR is not properly defined as discussions in academia are mostly concerned about creating realistic impressions of space, rather than the operational side of different architectural detailing. Thus, in recognizing the operational dimensions of VEs in VR, it is vital to examine the influence of different architectural detailing on the legibility of VEs. This study aimed to suggest a guideline for users’ experience of architectural detailing in a VE for a large-scale urban simulation. This study was executed as an experimental simulation study. In a total of N=96 respondents were divided into four different treatments with n=24 respondents in each VE with a unique level of architectural detailing. They answered the questionnaire surveys and drew cognitive maps after completed navigating within the VEs using VR. Analysis methods used were primarily of content analysis, Kruskal-Wallis H test, and one-way ANOVA. The first analysis phase was environment-specific and the second phase was route and point-specific. In the third phase, the findings from previous phases were triangulated. The most and the least legible VEs were established as per different abilities of interpreting VEs. The operational dimensions of the VEs were established based on the deconstructed architectural detail components namely ‘geometric extrusion’ and ‘distinction’ as the factors influencing legibility of VEs. The operational dimensions of each VE were synthesized based on various criteria derived from the abilities of interpreting VEs. Based on the statistically significant results, the criteria were reduced to ‘understanding VE’ and ‘recalling VE’, in that order. In conclusion, there are some influences of architectural detailing on legibility but only in regards to the two criteria. The operational dimensions were also established for each criterion, which was learned from the cognitive knowledge data. Firstly, is for tasks within one viewpoint. Secondly, is for linear navigation and lastly is for full-fledged virtual exploration. This thesis also proposed two main guidelines for the user experience of architectural detailing in urban VE to be used by architects and users in the associated domain

Dewan Budaya : Senibina dan "Gangguan" Teknologi (Jilid 45 • Bil. 04/2023)

Tangan kita pada hari ini tidak lekang daripada memegang telefon yang bukan lagi sekadar digunakan untuk menelefon, tetapi untuk melangsaikan segala segi urusan harian. Fail kerja pula disimpan di “awan”, kandungan berita dan hiburan tidak lagi disuap oleh media arus perdana, dan kenderaan sekarang sudah pandai memandu dengan sendiri. Malah perbuatan menulis makalah ini tidak lagi melalui kerja “menulis” sepertimana kata kerja yang lazimnya merujuk pergerakan otot tangan menggunakan pena dan kertas, tetapi lebih kepada menaip sahaja

An Architectural-Visual Validation of the Photograph of Kuching Mosque, Malaysia

A curious photograph of a building has surfaced in popular and academic discussions in recent decades. Some academic studies are known to have begun using this photograph as data. They imply it as depicting the first permanent mosque in Kuching, which itself is iterated from a museum exhibition in Sarawak, Malaysia. This study makes the case that the narratives surrounding the purported photograph are inaccurate as no documents have provided any convincing link between the photograph and the early mosque. This study aims to conduct architectural-visual validation of the building in the photograph in reexamining an uncertain institutional representation of history. Executed within an anti�positivist framework, this study commits an architectural-visual validation process by examining the photograph’s origin and the building in the photograph itself with contextual and architectural information as the basis. The study finds that the building in the photograph was incorrectly misattributed as a fort. The analysis also made use of historical timeline chronology to posit the fort is not the alleged mosque. The study offers conjectures stating the plausible cause of the misattributions based on the normative architectural design forms of a mosque but cannot ascertain further whether the fort has been used as a mosque

From sacred to secular : Baruk architecture on secular buildings in Sarawak

The Bidayuh people of Sarawak are known for their baruks. A baruk is often observed as having a round form with a conical roof that has various functions such as a courthouse, a meeting place and a residence for the male adolescents. These are all secular purposes built around its religious functions, constructed based on their traditional beliefs that qualify it to be considered as a sacred building. Recently, the pursuit for fulfilling political and commercial objectives has made the architecture of baruks to be copied onto various secular buildings in Sarawak, ranging from a visitor centre to a governmental building. Despite much have been praised as an attempt to revive this endangered architecture, applying its language onto contemporary secular buildings sparks a debate whether the sacredness of the original baruks are respected or is it just a cultural commodification. This paper attempts to justify the adaptation of baruk architecture into secular buildings. It is discussed through a grounded theory approach, with the methods used were in the form of literature review and on-site observations. This paper suggests the extent of applying baruk sacred architecture into secular buildings should be observed, allowing more potential discussions in the academia pertaining adaptation of sacred indigenous architecture in contemporary buildings

Functional Attachment in Kuching Riverfront Promenade, Sarawak - Malaysia

The relationship between people and certain places can stimulate the sense of place, this process is recognized as place attachment. Place attachment also indicates the relationship between physical image and its function, through this process the sense of a place can be established. These concepts focus on the physical elements and activities together with the meanings influenced by users that will create the identity and the meaning of the place. Allowing for this issue, the research examines the functional attachment which will affect the level of attachment in Kuching Riverfront Promenade (KRP), a popular public space among local people. By using indirect method to simplify common patterns and human-specific patterns of the place, this research covers subject of place attachment. Questionnaire survey were led to a certain area of the promenade with an overall of 165 respondents and 18 stall operators were interviewed. The findings point out that the respondents have a strong association with the local environment and designate the importance of place as economics’ dependence and recreational place. The level of functional attachment to KRP is between level 1 to level 4. Measuring at level 4 involves a higher commitment in loyalty, goals and obedience to the environment

Students’ Perceptions towards Assignment Integration between Architecture Design Studio and Structural and Technological Subjects

Architecture is a process of planning, designing, and constructing buildings or structures. In architecture, structural and technological aspects need to be considered in the design process for better service. Architecture Design Studio (ADS) is the fundamental course of the Architecture Programme. It teaches students about the design process and techniques via design projects. Courses on structure and technology (S&T), on the other hand, teach students technical knowledge. In the evolution of the University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) architecture programme, these two - ADS and S&T - are integrated to enhance critical thinking and design ability. Integration is achieved by requiring students to apply the knowledge that they have gained in S&T courses to their design projects in ADS. This study investigated the perception of students towards this integration. Respondents were from Year 2 and Year 3 students undergoing their Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Architecture at UNIMAS. The data analysis gathered from the questionnaire based on 59 respondents showed that the majority of students had a positive attitude towards this integrated assignment, and with adequate execution and support from lecturers, this approach to improving critical thinking in architecture design projects may grow and succeed in the future

Night Market Phenomena: Its Contribution to The Sustainability of Urban Space

Scientists identified 3 main elements of sustainable development, namely: economic sustainability, environmental sustainability and social sustainability. No doubt that it is difficult to intertwine harmoniously the anthropocentric among social and economic objectives with the ecocentric’s ecologic objectives. Likewise, sustainable development can be achieved through synthesis approach between economic, social and environment. Thus, these concepts will be the result of development which has 3 dimensions - economic, social and environmental. Each of these components has its level of priority. Given the urban context, the impact of activities either negative or positive towards the sustainability concomitantly related to consequences of development. By taking Malaysia and Thailand as a case study, this paper attempts to explore the night markets phenomena which has a positive impact on urban sustainability especially in small urban spaces. Harmonization of the economic, social and environment dimensions is continually formed after the economic recession of 1997. Economically, the night market traders can increase their incomes which derived from lower-middle economic class. Social interaction also occurs between merchants and buyers. Utilization of unused urban space as a ‘venue’ of night market evidently changed unused space into a place. The research was conducted in various urban areas of Malaysia and Thailand while one example of each country is discussed in this paper. This paper also delves into the issue of sustainability in the small urban space that has been developed by the urbanites to sustain their livelihood that slowly transform the unused urban space into a place